Scripture for Prayer

Day 41 - Monday of Holyweek

Identify with a character: Choose one of the people in the story and imagine the scene from their point of view.

Set the Scene: Fill in the details which the scripture leaves out to make the story real for you. Imagine the scenery, the weather, the people.
Be aware of how you feel.

Luke 22:1-6 (NRSVA)

Now the festival of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, was near. The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a way to put Jesus to death, for they were afraid of the people.
Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was one of the twelve; he went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers of the temple police about how he might betray him to them. They were greatly pleased and agreed to give him money.
So he consented and began to look for an opportunity to betray him to them when no crowd was present.

Conversation: When you come towards the end of your time of prayer, talk to
Jesus about what has come up for you.
Imagine how he might reply.

A Prayer: End with a formal prayer, such as the Lord's Prayer/Our Father

Today's Meditation

Judas

Night had fallen,
And the cloak of darkness huddled the traitor
As he picked his way through the grey city streets.
The assignment contracted,
A kiss the fulcrum,
Of the world's turning:
The spilling of coins,
The seal of the barter.

How dark is dark
When the moon shrouds its beams,
And the shadows of the ending day
Melt and fade on the barren earth?
How dark is dark?
Each one slips away, hooded his head,
Delves into obscurity,
Stifles his ears, Shutters his memory,
Erasing the fidelity of love's tryst
Made in fellowship:
'I know him not!'
'I know him not!'

Was then this kiss
The sign of the world's desecration?
But he accepted the kiss
As a youth lifts his cheek
To receive the lips of his loved-one wakening:
'Tell me, what have I done,
How have I offended you?'

Patrick Purnell SJ

Review of Prayer

Notice how you reacted and felt.

Is this saying anything about you, about the way you see others or God?